Chosen Fate: otempora01
by MonkandMiko
Summary: Can we say arranged marriage? With Mushin pushing Miroku to settle down, and Kagome's grandfather seeking her secured future, the two are pushed together against their own designs for romance. More inside. MirKag.


**Title:** Chosen Fate  
**Category:** Fanfiction  
**Author:** otempora01  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** Can we say "arranged marriage"? With Mushin pushing Miroku to settle down, and Kagome's grandfather seeking her secured future, the two are pushed together against their own designs for romance. Can Miroku remain faithful to a single woman for the rest of his life? Will Kagome give him the chance?

* * *

**ONE:** Living La Vida Loca

"I can't believe you." Sango Akahori said, pressing a hand to her forehead and exhaling slowly. "Three? You have _three_ dates for tonight?"

Her companion, Miroku Takaya, hung his head and nodded. "What am I going to do? I _can't_ stand Sakuno up—she's got the biggest set of breasts I've ever seen in my life. And Rio's _really_ good in bed. And then Koyuki is really annoying, but she can blow like nobody's business."

Sango glared at him. "That information was disgusting _and_ unnecessary."

"Sango, come on. I need your advice!" Miroku pleaded, grabbing her hands. "I can't break a date with any of them, but I can't be in three places at once, either!"

Dragging her hands out of his grasp, Sango got to her feet and rubbed her temples. "Miroku, pick up the phone and break all three dates. You can't go."

"What?"

"You promised Mushin that you'd go see him tonight, remember? Did you think about that while you were making all of these dates?"

Miroku stared at her blankly for a moment. When had he promised Mushin that he would—oh, right. During his last visit, he'd been so eager to leave and go clubbing that he'd agreed with whatever Mushin had said—which happened to be that Miroku needed to return this night to talk about what had been referred to as 'important family matters'.

In other words, more talk about how Miroku needed a wife.

He tried not to cringe. He was twenty-five years old for Buddha's sake. What did he want with a wife? These were his bachelor years. Who knew if he'd ever be this pretty again? He had to enjoy it while it lasted. Go to parties. Go to clubs. Pick up women. Many women. Get drunk until even Mother Theresa looked hot and rock and roll all night.  
Why would he want to get married and give all of that up? Mushin was out of his mind.

Come to think of it, so was Sango. She agreed with Mushin on the wife issue. Or, at the very least, she thought he needed to settle down. Sango had been his best friend practically since childhood, and Miroku respected her opinion, but, really, everybody just needed to butt out of his life.

Besides, Sango knew nothing of the benefits of the single life. She was in an exclusive relationship with a boy by the name of Inuyasha Anzai. Miroku hadn't even gotten the chance to sleep with her first. Sango was one of those independent, I-have-respect-for-myself-and-my-body, hands-off-you-pervert, secret-Harlequin-romance-novel-reading type of people. She wanted a husband and kids. And, hey, between Inuyasha and her younger brother, Kohaku, she may as well already have both.

"_Miroku_!"

He blinked, staring at the irritated female in front of him, then sighed dramatically. "Yeah, alright, I'll cancel. I hope Mushin is aware of just how much he is cutting into my social life. Who knows if I'll ever have this many dates again?"

"Wasn't this a bad thing five minutes ago?" Sango asked, amused despite herself.

Miroku got to his feet and winked. "Being in high demand is _never_ a bad thing, my dear Sango. Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Whatever, you perv." Sango laughed, shaking her head. "You'll never change."

"…Grandpa?"

"Yes, Kagome?"

"Why are there brochures for his and hers grave plots on the table?" Kagome Higurashi asked as she removed her coat and shoes. Grandpa Higurashi smiled widely at her in answer, grabbing a brochure and holding it out.

"Take a look at these, Kagome. It always pays to be prepared, you know! Never know when it might be your time to leave this world!"

Kagome wrinkled her nose, one eyebrow going up. "Grandpa, no offense, but you're way more likely to kick the bucket than I am. And wouldn't one of those plots go to waste considering I'm, you know, _single_?"  
"You can't stay single forever!" Grandpa sang. "There are plenty of eligible young men all over Tokyo who would be proud to have your hand in marriage. Why, with a little effort and a miniskirt, you could—"

"_Grandpa_!"

Kagome rolled her eyes and stalked up the stairs to find her brother. At twenty-three years old, she liked to think she had a pretty good life. She worked as an intern at _Celeste_, one of the most popular teen magazines in Tokyo. That, combined with help from her family, had given her enough money to have bought herself the house of her dreams, within driving distance of the shrine where she grew up, and her baby, a navy blue Nissan.

However, and this was slowly becoming the biggest pain in her side, her only life companion was her fat cat, Buyo. Kagome wasn't married or in a relationship or even in the first stages of a potential relationship.

Normally, Kagome wouldn't have cared one whit about it. All she needed was her family and her cat to be happy. If only her Grandpa felt the same way. He was forever doing things like this—wedding brochures, vacation brochures with discounts for couples, blind dates, random men calling asking if she was really as pretty as her Grandpa said she was, and, now, his and hers grave plots.

He claimed he only wanted to 'secure her future', but Kagome knew the truth. All he wanted was great-grandchildren.

"Souta!" She called as she reached the top of the stairs and headed towards her brother's room. "You here?"

"Is that you, sis?" Souta's voice called back before the boy himself swung open the door and nearly crashed into her. Sixteen-year-old Souta really hadn't changed much looks-wise, except he was taller and a bit more built than he used to be. She hugged him tightly. "Gah! Choking!"

"I've missed you, you little runt!" She cried happily. It had been awhile since she'd come to visit her family. Articles and deadlines and research had been weighing her down. She'd barely had time to even eat. "How've you been? Got a girlfriend yet? Are you doing drugs? Alcohol? Having sex?"

"Fine, no, no, no, and _no_. Get off!" Souta pried her arms off him and took a step back, running his fingers through his hair and grinning. "How've _you_ been, Kagome? Grandpa's been waiting for you to get here. He's got these brochures for—"

"His and hers grave plots. I saw." Kagome deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "Is it really a crime against humanity to be single and _like_ it?"  
Souta suddenly looked very nervous. "Yeah, well, about that—"

"Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi said, coming out of Kagome's old bedroom with what appeared to be a cloth and a bottle of Windex. "Darling, you're here. Come give your mother a hug."

"Momma!" Kagome launched herself at her mother—some things never changed—and hugged her tightly. "Hi, Momma!"  
"Hello, Kagome," Her mother laughed, hugging her back. "I'm glad you're here. There's something your grandfather and I need to talk to you about. It's been a long time in coming."

Kagome let go and groaned. "Not more marriage stuff?"

"Something like that…" Mrs. Higurashi said, smiling and heading for the stairs.

Mushin Konomi wasn't Miroku's blood father, but close enough. He'd been good friends with Miroku's father before the car accident and had legally adopted Miroku after the fact, keeping Miroku's extremely large inheritance safe until the boy had gotten old enough to be able to use it on sex, drugs, and women, just like Mushin would have done in his place.

He offered Miroku a rather large bottle of brandy, which the man accepted without a second thought, and then drained. Looks aside, no one would ever be able to tell they weren't father and son.

"Alright, old man." Miroku said, tossing the empty bottle to the side. "What girl have you got that you think would make the _perfect_ bride for me if only I'd do more than just my 'usual sleep and ditch'? I'm on a tight schedule."

"I'm _so_ sorry," Mushin replied sarcastically. "Am I interrupting your _clubbing_ time?"

Miroku huffed. "Yes!"

Rolling his eyes, Mushin grabbed another bottle of brandy and two cups. "Miroku, you know that in your father's will, he wished that I be the one to care for you—"

"I recall quite clearly you mentioning that right before threatening to throw yourself in front of a moving vehicle if I didn't do what you say." Miroku said with a slight smirk. He sighed at Mushin's glare. "I apologize. Please. Continue."

"And do you recall the days when I used to take you to the Higurashi shrine to play with the little girl there? Do you remember her name?"

Miroku paused, going through his mental Little Black Book. Nothing came up.  
Mushin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Kagome. Kagome Higurashi. The little girl in the overalls who inhaled more pocky than she did oxygen."

"Oh, yeah!" Miroku said, snapping his fingers. "She must be really hot by now. She always had the potential underneath all that dirt and strawberry stains."

"Yes, well…"

"You mean Georgie Porgie?" Kagome asked, tilting her head to the side as she stared at her mother and grandfather. They had retired to the kitchen, where the three of them were sitting around the table and enjoying a nice cup of tea while they told her… whatever it was.

So far, the conversation seemed to consist of recalling her prepubescent playmates.

"Who?" Mrs. Higurashi asked in confusion.

"Georgie Porgie. That's what Yuka and I decided to call Miroku Takaya. You know? '_Georgie Porgie pudding pie, kissed the girls and made them cry_'?" She explained, taking another sip of her tea. "He totally stole my first kiss. And my pocky, come to think of it. But I digress. What about Miroku?"

"While you and Miroku were playing, his legal guardian, Mushin, and your mother and I were… ah… how shall I put this… discussing a… business deal."

Mrs. Higurashi giggled. "That makes it sound horrible." Kagome blinked, almost afraid when her mother turned to look at her. "We were arranging for you two to be married."

"I'm sorry… what?" Miroku asked, staring at Mushin as though he'd said 'to have alien love children'. "Arranged what?"

"Marry. Kagome Higurashi. You." Mushin said slowly. "Sakura Higurashi, Katsuo Higurashi, and I were planning for you and Kagome to enter an arranged marriage to occur when you two were of the proper age, if you hadn't found anyone else to marry by that time."

Miroku gaped at him.  
"Technically, this was supposed to begin once you turned twenty, but I wanted to give you a chance to experience life and they didn't want Kagome to get married while she was just leaving high school. Thus, we decided to wait until now. Kagome writes for a very popular magazine and…" Mushin sniffed. "Well, you're a bum, but you're an attractive bum."

"Are you _crazy_!" Miroku had finally found his voice and he was not happy. "An arranged marriage? Are you really so desperate to see me get married? And to some girl I haven't seen since I was _eight_? How do I know she's not some muumuu-wearing battleaxe?"

"Trust me. I'm more worried about Kagome accepting you, than about you accepting her. She's too good for you." Mushin said dryly, pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to him. "Here's a picture."

Miroku looked down at it. Okay, definitely not a muumuu-wearing battleaxe. She was actually really pretty, what with those friendly-looking brown eyes and that fair skin and those high cheekbones and that decent bra-size and those tight jeans and that butt…

"Eyes on the _face_, Miroku." Mushin snapped, grabbing the picture. "Kagome Higurashi isn't like those trashy whores you date. She's a class act."

"Mmhmm." Miroku murmured, trying to think over the sound of 'Baby Got Back' playing in his head. "She's pretty, I'll admit, but I'm not marrying her just because of that. With that reasoning, I would have married half of Tokyo by now."

Mushin smiled angelically. "Sorry, Miroku, but you had your chance to back out of it. Now, you have no choice."

"No! No, no, no, no, no, and, in case you didn't hear me the first time, _NO_!" Kagome shouted, slamming her hands against the table. "I am not marrying some boy I haven't seen since I was _six_! He wasn't nice then and he's probably not nice now! He's probably some kind of playboy! I'm not marrying some eight year old playboy wannabe!"

"Kagome, I assure you, Miroku is a perfectly… nice person?" Mrs. Higurashi said unsurely, looking at Grandpa.

He shrugged. "No, I'd say she's pretty much on the money with that one."

"Oh."

"You see!" Kagome folded her arms. "I can't believe you guys would just shove me into an arranged marriage! What about love! What about finding a man of my own on my own!"

"Well, Kagome, we've given you plenty of opportunity to do so, but you haven't dated anybody since Hojo. And, if I recall, you broke up with him because he was _too nice_." Grandpa said, raising an eyebrow. "We want to see you happily married to someone who can take care of you. And the deal on those his and hers plots is too good to pass up!"

"Grandpa!" Kagome and her mother shouted at the same time.

Ms. Higurashi sighed, smiling in a reassuring way. "Listen, Kagome, your grandfather has a point. You've been single for much too long, sweetie. Please, promise me you'll give Miroku a chance? He's coming by here next week. Please, Kagome?"

Kagome's lower lip trembled in the beginnings of a pout, but, nonetheless, she nodded. "Okay, Momma." She said weakly. "May I please have some pocky?"

"Sure, go right ahead. Oh, and here." Mrs. Higurashi slid a photograph across the table. "Here's what he looks like."

Kagome opened her mouth to tell her that looks did _not_ matter to her (except when they did), then thought better of it and just looked. Alright, so Miroku wasn't freaky looking or something like that. He was good-looking with mischievous eyes that made him seem like he was hiding something really naughty. In a good way. He had playboy written all over him.

She gave the picture back to her mother before she did something stupid. Like swooned.

"Pocky." Kagome said resolutely, heading for her pocky cabinet. She had a feeling her life was about to get way more complicated.

— — —

Oh, I just love it when people respond to challenges...makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside n.n (especially when I don't have to resort to bribery and/or intimidation)

Many thanks to otempora01 for this (incredibly amusing) response to our epic challenge #8, "Chosen Fate." Let's hope that there are more chapters to come shortly.

Btw, expect a large MnM update on July 2nd. MnM has been "feeling" out a new activity – weekly drabble challenges – on LJ and the turnout was very nearly overwhelming. We have eleven drabbles collected so far and there are still two days left to post! Therefore, expect a huge fic dump on the second.

Megami


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